In the coming days, producers from General Pueyrredon will launch the first quality seal in Argentina that ensures that the production of fruit and vegetables is free of toxic waste.
"Laboratory tests showed that 98% of the production in the region does not contain pesticide residues," said Ricardo Velimirovich, president of the Association of Producers of Fruits and Vegetables and Others from the General Pueyrredon party.
"That means our product's quality is better than that produced in other places which don't have many controls. We've created a seal, which we'll present to the Nation and launch in the coming days," he added.
After participating in the presentation of the 2020 Vegetable Strategy of the Ministry of Agricultural Industry in the Province, Velimirovich said the cluster-A group of companies and institutions belonging to a particular segment of market - "began in October and to date we already have drawings and budgets of logistics centers, as well as a traceability and distribution systems created. We are incorporating a lot of projects."
To do this, the producers worked with agronomists and had the support of the laboratories of the Municipality and of the National Health and Food Quality Service (Senasa). There are nearly 700 producers of fruits and vegetables in General Pueyrredon, 50% of which are part of the Association.
Possible to export kiwi to the United States
The Undersecretary of Productive Development of General Pueyrredon, Alberto Becchi, highlighted the importance that kiwi and strawberry production have for the region.
"The area of Mar del Plata has the largest kiwi production; there are more than 300 hectares devoted to this crop," he said. "We are currently working with Senasa on lowering the prevalence of fruit fly. We've made progress in some studies that will be carried out until May and, if we verify there is a low prevalence of fruit flies, the producers of kiwi from Mar del Plata will be able to enter other markets, especially to southern Patagonian and to the United States," he added.
The official continued: "The kiwi, which has an excellent quality, has an unmet demand. That means producers sell everything they produce: much of it is exported and much of it is sold to the domestic market."
Velimirovich also spoke about the importance of local strawberries. "Currently we have achieved 80% of the country's strawberry production," he said, while adding that the main exports were destined to the United States and Spain.
Source: lacapitalmdp.com